Jennifer García

Country of Origin Effect and Reputation of Spanish Brands: a Literature Review, an Empirical Study Jennifer García

Country of origin effect is one key factor, often ignored, of brands. In today?s business world, companies need to understand the implications of COO effects on their products and brands. This paper looks at the influence of COO on consumers? product evaluations and purchase intentions. In particular, Spanish COO is chosen as the study context. The first phase of the paper involves the analysis of the implications of COO on consumer behavior through a study of previous literature. In a second phase an empirical study is conducted in order to analyse consumer?s evaluations of COO and the perceptions of Spanish COO products. The analysis illustrates the relevance of COO for different product categories, the perceptions of Spanish origin products, and the associations of Spain as country of origin. The last phase leads to the implications of Spanish COO on brands and addresses the positive/negative effect of the ?made in Spain? for brands? image. The findings of the research have implications for Spanish firms in order to develop strategies to counter / leverage the impact of COO on their brands.